Harford County’s two favorites to win the UCBAC’s Chesapeake Division boys basketball title met in Joppatowne Friday night and the game, as expected, did not disappoint.

Visiting C. Milton Wright and Joppatowne played a tight contest throughout, with CMW (2-0, 7-1) pulling out the 73-68 win over the Mariners (1-1, 4-2).

Also Friday in Chesapeake play, Patterson Mill was a winner over Harford Tech and Aberdeen beat Edgewood. Three Susquehanna Division games were postponed due to Cecil County Public Schools being closed on Friday.

In Joppatowne, the game was tied 6-6 early on and the Mustangs led 16-11 late in the opening quarter. Joppatowne senior Montrell Horsey changed that, scoring five straight points to pull the Mariners even.

CMW slipped back ahead, 18-16, but Horsey’s three-point play with 4.6 seconds left gave the Mariners a 19-18 lead after one quarter.

Quincy Haughton’s three-point shot with 1:30 left in the half gave CMW a 30-25 lead, but Joppatowne used four free throws to get back to within a point, 30-29.

Mustangs senior guard Imran Hussain added a late three and the Mustangs took a 33-31 lead into the half.

Horsey answered back for Joppatowne to begin the second half. His three-pointer pushed Joppatowne back ahead and it started an 11-0 run by the Mariners, who led 42-33.

The Mustangs battled back with an 8-3 run and on Corey Patterson’s basket, the game was retied at 49-49.

Hussain then drove and scored in the final seconds of the third quarter, leaving the game right where it was when the quarter started; CMW still leading by two, but now, 51-49.

“Coming through the second half, we knew that they’re gonna throw a punch (make a run), so we were just gonna weather the storm, but we knew could do anything in our possibilities to get the win,” Hussain said.

Horsey (23 points) opened rhe final quarter with another three to push the Mariners back ahead, 52-51. A short time later it was 56 all.

The game was tied again at 61 when Joppatowne sophomore Jalen Morris was hit with a technical foul.

The infraction led to five straight CMW points and the game was never tied again and the Mustangs never trailed again.

Hussain, who led all scorers with 30 points, added another three-point shot, but Jayden Johnson added a three for the Mariners. CMW led 69-65 with 59.2 seconds left.

Two free throws by Julio Brodie pulled the Mariners to within three, 70-67, and the Mariners had the steal off the inbounds pass, but two Joppatowne players collided and the ball was snagged by the CMW’s Haughton.

Haughton made 1-of-2 free throws, as did Joppatowne’s Jalen Willis, leaving the Mariners with life, down 71-68 with 10.6 seconds left.

Brett Lindsey (15 points) missed the front end of his 1-and-1, but quickly made up for it. He grabbed the loose ball rebound and layed it back in for the game’s final points.

“We knew coming in that Joppatowne was arguably the best team out there and that they were more athletic than we were,” CMW coach Jon Stefanides said. “They had two guards, Jalen Willis and Montrell Horsey, just phenomenal players and we knew we had to slow them down. We knew we couldn’t stop them.”

Willis finished with nine points and DeAnthony Creighton had 16 points for the Mariners.